POST Failure - Constant Restarting

Dead Dreamer · 03-07-2007

Hi guys, having to come to you from an alternate computer *sigh* as i've encountered an error on my own machine which i cannot work out?!?!

Was playing WoW today and needed to restart the computer because i encountered some heavy graphics lag.

Restarted, and now the computer does not boot to POST.

I dont know about others, but when i restart my computer normally the small carbon speaker makes like a "duh" sound signalling restart BEFORE it does the standard POST 1 beep "all ok".

All i am recieving now is a machine which is hung on boot constantly going duh duh duh, which to me indicates it is constantly restarting and failing before it even gets to POST.

PSU - Antec 300W True Power
MB - Gigabyte 8I915P Duo Pro
Ram - 1024mb Kingston DDR2 533
HDD - 3x 160gb + 1x 320gb
CPU - 3.2 P4 OC to 3.6 (Have had it OC'd for close to a month now and this is the first sign of a problem :-s)

Have tried removing the onboard battery to reset the CMOS but am not even sure if that has worked.
Have disconnected and reconnected all the wires etc for each component to no avail.

Anybody have any suggestions?

GaRHaR · 03-07-2007

Hi Dead Dreamer, welcome to the PCHF...i would like to blame all your problems on WoW...but I wont do that until AFTER we sort your computer out

Constant "duhs" generally mean that your video card or ram is either dead, or not connected properly.

Open your case up, pull your video card out and with a soft tipped eraser rub the connectors on the bottom of the card (both sides).
Do the same with your RAM. Reinsert - and try again.

If this doesnt work, can you tell me how frequent the beeps are?

Dead Dreamer · 03-07-2007

I'll recap with some info and questions other members from other boards have suggested:

How long did you have the battery out for? And did you have the power cord removed while you had the battery out?[/i]

I had the battery out for approximately 4-5 minutes, im not sure what capacitance the caps would have held residual charge for so i assumed that would be long enough.

I don't know if your Mainboard has a reset CMOS jumper (if it does, it'll be very near the battery) but that is the easiest way to ensure you have reset the CMOS.

I have looked in my mobo manual for how to do this but could not find anything relating to it - closest thing was flashing the bios - but cannot do that since it doesnt boot. If there is a reference picture even from any other mobo i am sure i could figure it out, until then i'd prefer not to play with jumpers until i am certain of the ones i need to touch.

Have you tried booting with nothing but RAM and CPU and VGA if it isn't onboard?

In reference to that statement, i have tried this:

Code:

1 Nothing but the power supply, CPU,installed on the motherboard, plug your power cord in and turn power on.
2 You should hear a series of long beeps & all your fans should be turning.
3 The board is looking for memory.
4 That tells you your 'board, CPU & power supply are working.
5 Unplug power cord (very important an ATX power supply always has power to it when the cord is pluged in).
6 Install 1 stick of RAM in the first bank, it should be marked either 0 or 1
7 Plug your power cord in and turn your power on.
8 You should get 1 long and 3 short beeps. It will be looking for the video card.
9 That tells you your PS/'board/CPU/RAM are working.
10 Unplug power cord.
11 Install your video card and plug your monitor into your video card.
12 Plug your power cord in turn your power on.
13 You should get a power up test which is 1 short beep.
14 You should see your CPU/RAM/video reconized on the screen.
15 You will get a disk boot failure because you have no drives installed. In this case every thing you have installed is working.
16 Shut machine down and unplug power cord.
17 Install all your drives, set your BIOS up and install your operating system.

Sad to say it still hangs at step one

Have you tried reseating the CPU? Re-do your heatpaste.

I have not tried this yet, need to get some thermal paste from my friend before i can try this one out.

And finally - my graphics card is a Gigabyte 6600GT :-)

And Garhar - it doesnt boot to post, so its not really a "beep" like it should make. I am aware of the phonetic beeps representing certain things, however this is not the case. Computer is simulating holding down the reset button, so it is always hung-2-restart - if that makes any sense?

Rodents210 · 03-11-2007

I've heard that if your heatsink is too heavy sometimes it will crack the CPU and either break it or slow it down significantly. Is that the problem?

AW_3_3 · 03-13-2007

as strange as this sounds, i dont think your board has jumpers dd,,, i lookedd it up, and found no referances to CMOS jumper at all which is very odd indeed. I would suggest taking the battery out for about a half/hour, then try again, take off the CPU Heatsync and check for crack and any signs of wear. P4s cant overheat so that is not the issue here. You might have oced it too much, and fried the CPU. It wont overheat, but you could have gone a little too far.

03-07-2007	#1
Dead Dreamer New Poster Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 2	POST Failure - Constant Restarting Hi guys, having to come to you from an alternate computer sigh as i've encountered an error on my own machine which i cannot work out?!?! Was playing WoW today and needed to restart the computer because i encountered some heavy graphics lag. Restarted, and now the computer does not boot to POST. I dont know about others, but when i restart my computer normally the small carbon speaker makes like a "duh" sound signalling restart BEFORE it does the standard POST 1 beep "all ok". All i am recieving now is a machine which is hung on boot constantly going duh duh duh, which to me indicates it is constantly restarting and failing before it even gets to POST. PSU - Antec 300W True Power MB - Gigabyte 8I915P Duo Pro Ram - 1024mb Kingston DDR2 533 HDD - 3x 160gb + 1x 320gb CPU - 3.2 P4 OC to 3.6 (Have had it OC'd for close to a month now and this is the first sign of a problem :-s) Have tried removing the onboard battery to reset the CMOS but am not even sure if that has worked. Have disconnected and reconnected all the wires etc for each component to no avail. Anybody have any suggestions?

03-07-2007	#2
GaRHaR Tech Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Western Australia Posts: 6,061 PC Experience: Elite PC Guru	Hi Dead Dreamer, welcome to the PCHF...i would like to blame all your problems on WoW...but I wont do that until AFTER we sort your computer out Constant "duhs" generally mean that your video card or ram is either dead, or not connected properly. Open your case up, pull your video card out and with a soft tipped eraser rub the connectors on the bottom of the card (both sides). Do the same with your RAM. Reinsert - and try again. If this doesnt work, can you tell me how frequent the beeps are? __________________ < Prework \| PSU Calculator \| PCHF Rules \| Microsoft Knowledge Base \| Guru 3D \| Toms Hardware \| Blackle.com - Spread the word! >

03-07-2007	#3
Dead Dreamer New Poster Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 2	I'll recap with some info and questions other members from other boards have suggested: How long did you have the battery out for? And did you have the power cord removed while you had the battery out?[/i] I had the battery out for approximately 4-5 minutes, im not sure what capacitance the caps would have held residual charge for so i assumed that would be long enough. I don't know if your Mainboard has a reset CMOS jumper (if it does, it'll be very near the battery) but that is the easiest way to ensure you have reset the CMOS. I have looked in my mobo manual for how to do this but could not find anything relating to it - closest thing was flashing the bios - but cannot do that since it doesnt boot. If there is a reference picture even from any other mobo i am sure i could figure it out, until then i'd prefer not to play with jumpers until i am certain of the ones i need to touch. Have you tried booting with nothing but RAM and CPU and VGA if it isn't onboard? In reference to that statement, i have tried this: Code: 1 Nothing but the power supply, CPU,installed on the motherboard, plug your power cord in and turn power on. 2 You should hear a series of long beeps & all your fans should be turning. 3 The board is looking for memory. 4 That tells you your 'board, CPU & power supply are working. 5 Unplug power cord (very important an ATX power supply always has power to it when the cord is pluged in). 6 Install 1 stick of RAM in the first bank, it should be marked either 0 or 1 7 Plug your power cord in and turn your power on. 8 You should get 1 long and 3 short beeps. It will be looking for the video card. 9 That tells you your PS/'board/CPU/RAM are working. 10 Unplug power cord. 11 Install your video card and plug your monitor into your video card. 12 Plug your power cord in turn your power on. 13 You should get a power up test which is 1 short beep. 14 You should see your CPU/RAM/video reconized on the screen. 15 You will get a disk boot failure because you have no drives installed. In this case every thing you have installed is working. 16 Shut machine down and unplug power cord. 17 Install all your drives, set your BIOS up and install your operating system. Sad to say it still hangs at step one Have you tried reseating the CPU? Re-do your heatpaste. I have not tried this yet, need to get some thermal paste from my friend before i can try this one out. And finally - my graphics card is a Gigabyte 6600GT :-) And Garhar - it doesnt boot to post, so its not really a "beep" like it should make. I am aware of the phonetic beeps representing certain things, however this is not the case. Computer is simulating holding down the reset button, so it is always hung-2-restart - if that makes any sense?

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03-11-2007	#4
Rodents210 Elite Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Upstate NY, United States Posts: 1,047 PC Experience: Very Experienced	I've heard that if your heatsink is too heavy sometimes it will crack the CPU and either break it or slow it down significantly. Is that the problem?

03-13-2007	#5
AW_3_3 System Builder Guru Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Ballston Spa, New York Posts: 2,492 PC Experience: PC Guru	as strange as this sounds, i dont think your board has jumpers dd,,, i lookedd it up, and found no referances to CMOS jumper at all which is very odd indeed. I would suggest taking the battery out for about a half/hour, then try again, take off the CPU Heatsync and check for crack and any signs of wear. P4s cant overheat so that is not the issue here. You might have oced it too much, and fried the CPU. It wont overheat, but you could have gone a little too far.